


From the Brink of Extinction, You Pulled Me Back

by TeamImprov



Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: Angus MacGyver (MacGyver TV 2016) Whump, Episode: s02e03 Roulette Wheel + Wire, Gen, Missions Gone Wrong, Past Torture, Protective Jack Dalton (MacGyver 2016), Scars, Whipping
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-09
Updated: 2021-01-09
Packaged: 2021-03-13 13:48:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,129
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28654506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TeamImprov/pseuds/TeamImprov
Summary: Riley had no idea there were so many scars on Mac’s back until she saw him without a shirt during the casino mission. When she asks, Bozer doesn’t know about them either. It takes a little prodding but they finally get Mac and Jack to open up about the fateful story of how they got there.
Comments: 31
Kudos: 73





	From the Brink of Extinction, You Pulled Me Back

**Author's Note:**

  * For [flowing_river](https://archiveofourown.org/users/flowing_river/gifts).



> Prompt from @flowingriver24 on tumblr, flowing_river on AO3: Mac has old scars that the team (except Jack) doesn’t know about and then they find out the whumpy/angsty story behind them.
> 
> Inspired by an early version of the pilot script where Mac had scars on his back (I can't believe they took that out!)

Riley didn’t know Mac’s back was absolutely covered in scars until the casino mission. 

Their goal had been just as simple and as complicated as getting a maintenance worker’s key card and making a copy. The plan was to have Mac handcuffed to the bed, Riley in a robe, with the cover story of having forgotten to bring the key. Riley booked them an empty room, they threw some things around to make it look like they had been there all night, and Mac quickly shed his black button up shirt. She kept her eyes respectfully averted as she donned a silk robe over her dress but as Mac pulled back the covers she saw them. His back was adorned in criss-crossed scars. There was barely a square inch of pale skin that didn’t have some kind of marking. She found herself frozen, staring at the back of one of her closest friends in absolute horror, as a vivid picture of what could have only been torture played through her mind. 

Mac slid under the covers and clipped his left wrist into one of the cuffs. He was struggling with the right side and Riley shook her head, putting the new information about the blond agent into a box until the end of the mission, and moved forward to help him with the cuff. 

“Thanks,” he grinned at her. Riley forced herself to smile back. As hard as she tried, she was still reeling from the discovery. It took everything inside her not to ask him right then and there what had happened. He didn’t have to tell her, they were all allowed to have their own privacy, but those scars told her he had survived something big. If she had lived through something like that and had the scars to prove it, she didn’t think she would ever be okay again. The strength Mac had astounded her sometimes. “This definitely looks like how we want it to. I think it’s time to call for help.” 

“Right,” Riley shook her head again, all the while hoping Mac didn’t notice anything strange going on with her, picked up the room phone and dialed down to the front desk.. 

“Hi, yeah.” She started when the desk clerk answered on the second ring. “I don’t know how to ask this, it’s so embarrassing, but my boyfriend and I…well, we’re having a bit of trouble with a pair of handcuffs and the distinct lack of a key for said handcuffs, if you know what I mean. Is there anyone here who could help us out?”

“Of course, ma’am.” The desk clerk sounded unamused and Riley wondered how often this exact scenario played out but for real. “We’ll send maintenance up right away.” 

“Thank you so much,” Riley really tried to play up the embarrassment in her voice. “This will teach us to be more careful next time.” 

“Yes, ma’am.” The voice on the other end was even more unamused, which Riley didn’t think was possible but the day was full of surprises. “Have a great day.” 

“You too,” Riley said brightly before hanging up. “So far so good.” 

“Maintenance coming?” Mac asked from the bed. 

“They should be here soon.” Riley walked over to the bathroom where Bozer was getting the supplies needed to make a copy of the keycard ready. 

“Guess I could have waited a few minutes before putting the cuffs on.” Mac groused from where he was literally chained to the bed. 

“You ready in here?” She asked Bozer. “It’s showtime.”

“I’m good in here.” Bozer clapped his hands together. “Now all we need is the card.” 

“Hey, Boz.” Riley started, leaning into the door and lowering her voice so Mac couldn’t hear. 

“What’s up?” He asked. 

“I need to talk to you about something,” she told him. “Later. After the mission.” 

“Everything good?” Bozer asked, all seriousness now. 

“Yeah,” she glanced back at Mac who was staring up at the ceiling. “I think so. I mean, I don’t know. I just need to talk to you later, okay?” 

“Okay,” Bozer promised. He looked like he wanted to say more but they were interrupted by a firm knock on the door. 

“That’s me,” she said, pulling the sides of the robe tighter around her body so her dress wouldn’t show through, and opened the door. 

++

The mission ended with a nuclear blast but nobody died or was exposed to radiation so all in all it was a pretty good day. 

Riley watched Mac more closely as he got up from the bed and pulled his shirt back on. He didn’t notice her staring at his scars that time either, or if he did, he made no indication that he had. 

It hadn’t been a trick of the light the first time, though. They were there and they looked gnarly. There was absolutely no scenario where it wasn’t something horrible that had caused them. It was eating away at Riley, her imagination coming up with nightmares of what could have happened. 

At the end of the mission, the whole team went back to Mac’s house. It was their usual spot and made them all feel comfortable and grounded after a stressful day of work. There were baby pictures of Jack and donuts but neither worked as a good distraction. When the gathering got a little quieter, and everyone was sitting in comfortable silence around the fire, Bozer caught her eye and motioned toward the house. She nodded and they both got up, claiming they were going to get refills for everyone, and then made their way into the kitchen. 

“Hey, is everything okay?” Bozer asked as she opened the fridge and started pulling out enough beers for both of them, Mac, Jack, Matty, and Cage. “I’m not gonna lie, you have me a little worried.” 

“Sorry about that,” she said. “I just...do you know what happened to Mac’s back?”

“His back?” Bozer glanced toward the deck, confused. “No. Why? What’s wrong with Mac’s back?”

“When we were on the mission and Mac was handcuffed to the bed, I saw that he had like a bunch of gnarly scars on his back.” 

“Mac does?” Riley shushed him when his voice got loud with disbelief. 

“Yeah,” she said, not having a hard time reimaging what they looked like. “They criss-crossed all over his back like he’s been whipped or something.” 

“No,” Bozer sobered at the thought. “I had no idea. I never really thought about it but I haven’t seen Mac without a shirt on since we used to go to the beach with my family when we were teenagers.” 

“I haven’t either,” Riley said. “Today was the first time because, you know, it’s Mac. I just thought he was a private person but I think there’s more to it than that.” 

“You’re sure?” Bozer asked. “I mean, could it have been a trick of the light.” 

“No way.” She shook her head. “They are there.” 

“Should we ask him about them?” Bozer asked. “I mean, is that rude? But, I mean, we are his friends. He would understand we were only asking because we’re worried.” 

“Maybe it was Cairo,” Riley guessed but it could have been any mission before their time, or something else entirely. 

“Maybe, Jack always says they don’t talk about Cairo.” Bozer agreed. “Maybe that’s why? You could always pull his file.”

“No way.” Riley shut the idea down right away. “That’s too much of an invasion of privacy. I would never do that.” 

“Then, do we ask or do we just pretend like we don’t know?” 

Riley worried her lip between her teeth, brows furrowed. Could she pretend like she never saw anything? Yes, she would always wonder but if it protected Mac from talking about things he’d rather forget than she was willing to live in suspense. She knew Bozer was right, asking someone about their scars was rude, but he was also right that Mac was their friend and they were coming from a place of love. 

“We could ask,” Riley said slowly. “If he doesn’t want to talk about it then we’ll just let it go.” 

“Okay, that sounds good.” Bozer said. “Now let’s go figure out who tortured our boy?” 

++

When Riley and Bozer found their way back to the group, and distributed the round to everyone in the circle, they decided to just ask quickly - like ripping off a bandaid. 

“Mac,” Riley jumped right in. 

“What’s up?” Mac asked, taking a swig from his beer. Riley hesitated, not wanting to step over a line or offend her friend in any way. 

“Can I ask you a personal question?” Mac glanced around the firepit, almost nervously, but smiled. 

“Sure, go ahead.” 

“When we were in that hotel room…”

“You saw them, didn’t you?” Mac asked lightly, sending a look toward Jack that Riley couldn’t place. Jack merely gripped his beer bottle tighter, wringing the glass between his hands like he was strangling it. 

“Yeah.” She was glad he knew what she was talking about but something about Mac and Jack’s reactions made her feel guilty for bringing it up. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have-” 

“No, it’s okay.” Mac said, reassuringly. It was so like him. He was the one with the clear torture written on his back like a roadmap and yet he was comforting her. “It’s not like I was actively trying to keep it a secret.”

“What are you guys talking about?” Cage asked, shaking her head a little as she tried to piece together what was going on. 

“I have a, um, a lot of scarring on my back.” Mac had to clear his throat half-way through. 

“I didn’t mean to look,” Riley tried to explain quickly but Mac shakes his head with a gentle smile. 

“It’s really okay,” Mac said again. “It’s like I said, I wasn’t trying to hide them.

“It’s not okay, man.” Jack burst out suddenly, slamming the beer bottle on the deck. Riley could tell the anger wasn’t directed at her, it was clear to everyone that whatever happened, Jack had been there. She wondered if Jack had scars on his back, too? From his reaction, she guessed he probably didn’t. “Nothing about that mission was okay.”

“I know, Jack.” Mac placated calmly. “I just meant it’s fine if everyone knows about them. I’m not embarrassed.” 

“There’s nothing for you to be embarrassed about, hoss.” Jack’s voice softened a little as he looked at his best friend sadly. “The blame for that one is squarely on my shoulders.” 

“You know that’s definitely not true.” Mac argued, a little more fire in his voice now that Jack was blaming himself for whatever happened. “I wouldn’t have made it out of there without you.” 

“You wouldn’t have been in that situation in the first place if it wasn’t for me.”

“It was the job, Jack. It wasn’t your fault that one went bad.” Riley could see that this was an argument they had had before that had never been resolved. If it was Cairo, she could see why they didn’t want to talk about it, but maybe it would be good for them to get it off their chests - share the burden of those memories with the rest of them. They were one big happy family after all. That’s what family was supposed to do for each other. 

“Well I could have stopped them when they took that goddamn bullwhip to you-”

“Jack,” Cage jumped in, sensing the spiral getting worse and using her skills to try to decompress the situation before he got even more riled up. 

“What?” Jack snapped. Cage didn’t look fazed. 

“This is clearly a sensitive subject for both of you,” she was turning on the voice she used during missions to deescalate a situation that had gone hot. “Maybe it would help both of you, as well as the rest of us, if you talked through what happened.”

“Nah, I don’t think that’s such a good idea.” 

“Come on,” Mac leaned forward, forcing Jack to look at him. “It can’t hurt, right?”

“Well hey, brother, it’s more your story than mine. If you’re okay with it, so am I.” 

“Okay, good.” Mac swallowed hard, clearly nervous to open back up a can of worms they had closed long ago. “This happened almost a year after I became an agent.”

“Wait,” Jack interrupted. “Let me tell it, bud. I don’t want you downplaying everything to make it seem like it wasn’t as bad as it was.” 

Mac nodded, looking incredibly relieved to not actually have to be the one to do it.

“It was a year after Mac joined DXS and Thornton assigned us to a mission in Mexico...”

To Be Continued.


End file.
